This invention relates generally to face protective devices of the type employing a visor or crown and a faceshield carried by the crown. More particularly, this invention relates to a crown/faceshield combination wherein the faceshield is removably attachable to the crown without the necessity for secondary operations or discrete assembly hardware thus providing a system which is easily assembled and disassembled by the end user.
Face protective devices of the type hereinabove discussed are well-known and utilize known headgear comprised of a resilient adjustment head band which is articulated to a visor or crown. Attached to the crown is a light weight, transparent plastic shield which is adapted to be supported in front of the face. Such devices are for general utility as protective means for both the face and the eyes of the wearer when the wearer is subjected to the hazards of flying particles such as in lath or grinding operations, to heat in connection with general work around furnaces, or when subjected to the hazards of splashing chemicals or the like. It will be appreciated that such face protective devices must not only be extremely light in weight and comfortable to wear, but also must enable the interchanging of face shields when they become pitted or otherwise rendered impractical for use.
Typically, the visor or crown is made of a molded plastic material and the faceshield is either molded or made from sheet stock in a known manner. In either case, secondary manufacturing processes must be utilized to attach discrete fastening hardware to either one or both of the crown and faceshield. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,763,495 to De Angelis, a secondary manufacturing process consisting of a riveting step is carried out to rivet a transparent faceshield to a crown. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,610,323 to Johnson, discrete snap-action means have to be provided to a crown and faceshield to permit attachment therebetween.
It will be appreciated that the assembly required in secondary manufacturing processes leads to high manufacturing costs both for the additional labor time in completing the secondary manufacturing process as well as for the necessity of Purchasing discrete attachment hardware.
While prior art face protective devices are known wherein the crown and faceshield are unitary and therefore require no separate secondary hardware, such Prior art face protective devices are not particularly desirable since such designs do not allow for faceshield replacement.